


9 x Questions

by orphan_account



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Canon Universe, Dialogue Heavy, Embarrassed Killua Zoldyck, Feelings, Fluff, Games, Hugs, M/M, One Shot, POV Killua Zoldyck, Pre-Chimera Ant Arc, Questions, Twenty questions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24316663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: While travelling with Kite and crew, Gon and Killua are tasked with doing some rather boring tasks such as setting out beetle traps. Luckily, Gon has a game idea he wants to try out to pass the time and make things more exciting. Naturally, it turns into a bit of a competition.
Relationships: Gon Freecs & Killua Zoldyck, Gon Freecs/Killua Zoldyck
Comments: 14
Kudos: 184
Collections: One-Shot Goldmine





	9 x Questions

“I can’t believe Kite is making us trap _beetles_ ,” groaned Killua as he stuck his hand in his pockets. “We’re professional hunters and the only thing we’ve been hunting for days is bugs.” What he failed to mention was that said beetles were about the size of a football and could secrete a gross sticky substance that would cause skin to blister. But, since they were _beetles_ , and beetles were _bugs,_ they automatically sucked according to Killua. 

“What’s wrong with beetles? They’re the most abundant animal in the entire island, and probably the world!” exclaimed Gon. “And besides, these ones are an invasive species so we need to get rid of them before they mess up the ecosystem some more.” Killua clicked his tongue. Gon was _right_ , but it didn’t make this any more exciting. 

“It’s kind of boring,” Killua retorted. Gon flattened his lips into a line and thought for a moment before speaking up. “And it’s not even like we’re hunting them, we’re just collecting them.”

“How about we play 20 questions to pass the time?”

“What’s that?” asked Killua. 

“It’s an easy game. One person thinks of something, and then the other person gets to ask up to 20 yes or no questions to help figure out what it is” explained Gon, lifting up a rock to look underneath it for any signs of beetle tracks. Their task had been to seek out where there was high beetle traffic, then to lie down some traps to capture them. “I’ll let you go first so you can see what kinds of questions to ask.”

“Alright, I’ll try to think of something hard,” said Killua, racking his brain for something that Gon would _definitely_ not think of. Because they were in the forest, Killua’s thoughts first drifted to things around him, like beetles or worms, but that would certainly be too easy. As he peeked behind some ferns, he looked over at the tree roots and suddenly came to an idea. 

“I’ve got something,” said Killua. “It’s a good one, I think. You’ll never be able to get it.”

“We’ll see about that,” said Gon, with a smirk. “Anyways, I think we have a good chance of trapping some beetles around here, I found a few tracks and a pod of eggs that I’m going to box up. Want to lay down the traps?”

“Sure,” said Killua, taking his backpack off to get the beetle trap out. “You know better than I do, beetle expert.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Gon, slightly irked. “It’s important to put the traps in a good spot otherwise they won’t be doing anything.”

“I’m just teasing, Gon, but I’ll stop,” said Killua. “Anyways, try to guess what I’ve thought of.”

“Alright, is it alive?”

“Nope.” Killua started assembling the parts of the beetle trap that had consisted of a rope barrier with some sweet starchy food of some sort in the middle of it. If he set it up correctly, when triggered, the giant beetle would be trapped in the rope after the entrance sealed up. 

“Is it something I can touch?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it bigger than my hand?”

Killua thought for a second, trying to remind himself just how big the item in question was. He pictured himself holding it, and then remembered. 

“Yeah, it is.”

“Have I ever touched it?”

“Oh, definitely.”

“Have I seen it today?”

“Nope.”

“Is it something I can buy?”

Killua paused for a moment. Sure, theoretically he _could_ buy it, but finding this object in the first place would be a hassle, and it’s not the type of thing to be sold at a store. He could point out that they _sold_ one before, but that would give away too much information. 

“I’m going to say yes,” said Killua. 

“Alright, is it expensive?”

“Oh, for sure.”

“I’ve narrowed it down really well,” said Gon, who had appeared squatting down next to Killua to check how well his trap was set up. “Just a few more questions and I think I’ve got it.”

“We’ll see about that, I picked a really niche thing,” said Killua, sure of himself. 

“Are we more likely to purchase it in an auction?”

“Yes.” Killua was slightly irked that the possibility of it having to do with the auction came up, not because the item itself was sold at an auction, but because besides the Greed Island video game, there was only one thing that had any remembering significance. 

“Is it that wooden thing full of treasure that Zepile helped us get a reasonable price for?”

“Yes, but what’s it _called_ ?” Killua said, narrowing his eyes playfully. He wanted to get as much out of this as he could since Gon had _technically_ guessed it already. Gon sighed and scratched the top of his head. 

“Wooden...vase thingy…. How do you even remember, can you give me a hint?” asked Gon, slightly irritated. 

“Fine. So you know how it has a treasure inside? What also can hold treasure?”

“Wooden chest? Wooden…. Safe. Wooden vault? Wood-”

“Yeah, you got it, it was the wooden vault that the eyebrows dude helped us get money off of in Yorknew,” said Killua. “I actually forgot what it was called too until about halfway through. I didn’t think you’d get it, though.”

“When I asked if I could buy it you took a long time to reply so I knew it had to be some weird item. The expensive question was to see if it was for the auction, or if it was something on Greed Island,” explained Gon. “I knew it couldn’t be the ‘video game’ Greed Island because the portal is smaller than my hand.”

“Ah, I forgot that I could pick something from Greed Island,” said Killua. “Maybe I should have.”

“My turn, though! I only needed 9 questions, that’s less than half,” said Gon. Killua rolled his eyes. 

“I’ll try to get it in less than 9, then,” said Killua. “It can’t be that hard.”

“Alright, I just thought of something, you’re never going to be able to guess it,” said Gon.

“Is it something tangible?” asked Killua. He didn’t want to get stuck looking for a concept or something he couldn’t touch. 

“Yes.”

“Is it something you can’t live without?”

“Yes.”

“Do you consume it?”

“No.” If it couldn’t be consumed, that ruled out food or water. The fact that it was tangible ruled out stuff like sunlight, or air, unless Gon was going to go the route of _technically_ air is tangible, but Killua doubted that. 

“Is it something you interact with every day?”

“Yes.”

“I feel like common items are almost harder than picking something really weird,” said Killua, putting the finishing touches on his beetle trap before setting it at the base of the tree. He turned to look over at Gon, who quickly turned around and started working on his beetle trap. “It’s okay, I don’t care if you take breaks, I’ve been kind of slow too.”

“It’s not that,” said Gon, but Killua didn’t press further. If he’d actually wanted to tell him, he would have told him already. That’s how Gon was. 

“Wait, is it even an item?” asked Killua. 

“Nope!”

“Damn, I’m down to three guesses and I’ve been sidetracked the whole time,” he said, leaning against the base of the tree. “Something you can’t live without, but it’s not food, and it’s not an item…. And you interact with it a lot….”

“You’re so close to figuring it out but I can tell I’ve stumped you,” said Gon, with a playful grin on his face. “You’d definitely figure it out… If I gave you the full twenty!”

“No way, I’m going to beat your record,” said Killua, sticking his hands in his pockets. He looked over at Gon, who was hard at work with his beetle trap. Suddenly, a realization hit him. _Gon himself_ needed it. It was probably something like his teeth, or some other external body part that he had “interactions” with. But how to phrase that? “Is it part of a person?”

“Uh….” Gon stood back up and turned around, looking at Killua with his face scrunched up for a second. “No.”

“Why did that take you so long,” Killua teased. Gon stuck his tongue out and pulled out his map to mark down where they’d laid some beetle traps out. While he did this, it gave Killua another moment to think. He only had 2 questions left, if he wanted to _tie_ . Gon had stalled a bit when he asked if it was _part_ of a person, so perhaps the answer _was_ a person? If so, who? His first thought went to Gon’s Aunt Mito, but he hadn’t seen her in months, so that broke the 4th question he’d asked. That meant that it was down to the crew they’d been working with for the past few months. Besides Kite, Gon wasn’t really that close with the other members of the team. Of course, it had to be Kite. 

“Is it Kite?” asked Killua in full confidence. Gon just smiled and laughed. 

“No!” replied Gon. “Man, you’re so close too. But now you can’t beat my record, the best you can do is tie.” Killua rolled his eyes. 

“Hey, at least I’ll have also been able to get it in just 9 tries if I get it right,” he replied. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you forgot to count the tries where I made you guess the exact name.”

“Killua, those don’t _count._ ”

“They will if I guess it right in the next question.”  
“That’s not fair!”

“Fine, I’m okay with tying.”

“You haven’t even guessed yet.”  
“Shh, I’m thinking,” said Killua to buy himself some more time. It might not even be a person, but nothing else seemed to make sense with the clues he’d given himself. If it wasn’t Kite, then that just left….

No, Gon wouldn’t do that, would he? _Something you can’t live without_. Killua felt his heart skip a beat. He’d been so preoccupied with trying to beat Gon’s record that he completely passed up the implications of what that meant. When he’d considered Kite, he was mostly thinking about his stance as a mentor to them since he had more experience as a hunter and could get them out of some sticky situations. But….

“Is it…” Killua’s voice trailed off as he made eye contact with Gon, whose cheeks were slightly pink. Did he already know? 

“Is it what?”

“Is it me?” 

Gon bit his bottom lip to hold back his smile as he nodded. 

“Yeah, it’s you,” said Gon, holding his hand out to shake. “Good game, we tied.” Killua stared down at his hand for a second, before clearing his throat and giving him an end of game handshake. 

“Hey, Gon? Can I ask you something?” asked Killua. Gon’s eyes lit up. 

“Sure!”

“What did you mean when you answered yes to the question where I asked you if the thing you were thinking about was something you couldn’t live without.”

Killua felt his own cheeks heating up. It was a stupid question, but for some reason, it was bothering him. 

“Well, you’re my best friend, Killua, of course I couldn’t live without you!” exclaimed Gon. “We’ve only been together for almost a year and a half, but those have been some of the most fun times of my life. We make a great team.”

“Oh, so that’s what you meant by that,” said Killua. “I was out here thinking that you meant something like food, or your teeth, I didn’t realize that you meant _me._ ”

“But that’s just it, I really do appreciate you, Killua,” said Gon, putting his hands on Killua’s shoulders. “I know I can be hard to read sometimes, but I’m serious.”

“Alright, alright,” said Killua, untensing his shoulders. Gon was right, though. “I’ll accept it.”

“You better,” said Gon, putting on a fake pouty face. “But, I am wondering.”

“What?”

“Am I something you can’t live without?”

Killua heard his own heart beating in his ears the moment the words left Gon’s lips. His question had taken him off guard. While he’d gotten a response from Gon, he hadn’t expected to have to answer it himself. He took a deep breath. Well, Gon had prompted it, so he might as well answer truthfully. It wasn’t as if the reverse wasn’t true, more just he felt embarrassed saying it. Gon was straightforward about his feelings, that was something Killua really liked about him. But it was harder for him to speak his own mind about what he was feeling because he over thought it a lot. That just meant he’d have to work harder to be able to share more freely.

“Yeah, you are,” said Killua, trying not to make it sound like a backhanded compliment, despite feeling super awkward about it. “I agree, before we met, I didn’t really know what I was doing, I didn’t really have any goals or things I was striving for. But now that we’re together, I found something I want to do.”

“And what’s that?” asked Gon, his eyes brightening up again.

“Spend time with you wherever you go.”

“Aww, Killua,” said Gon, giving him a hug. “Stop squirming, it can’t be embarrassing if there’s no one here to see you.” Killua was speechless as he slowly wrapped his arms around Gon too. He had stolen the words right out of his mouth. 

“I think we’ve scared off all the beetles,” said Killua. Gon pulled out of the hug and smoothed out his clothes. 

“Oh, so _now_ you care about the beetles?”

“No, but you do.”

Gon smiled so brightly that Killua took back any negative emotions he’d had about this beetle trapping sidequest that Kite had sent them on. Just spending time with Gon was enough to cheer him up, which was something he definitely didn’t take for granted. It didn’t matter what they were doing, Gon just had that kind of positive energy about him. 

“Let’s head back, we can check the traps tomorrow morning,” said Gon, grabbing Killua’s hand. “I’ll race you back to the campground. Last one back has to help with dinner!” Killua gave Gon a little nod. 

“You’re on!”

**Author's Note:**

> I actually had half of this written *months* ago and it was sitting in my drafts. I figured I could salvage it by giving it a little bit of plot with the beetles, but xD it's just cute fluff before everything goes to shit in the Chimera Ant Arc (still sad we never actually got a Killugon hug in canon so I had to make my own) But yeah, I really like writing them *in* canon, I might do a few more like this, might now. Who knows, my inspiration comes and goes at random times, haha.


End file.
